Best Palace Day Trips in Paris: Our Top 11

1.Giverny and Versailles Palace Guided Day Trip

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 1,324 reviews · 11h 30m · from $163Our pick

Visit Monet’s Giverny and Versailles from Paris in one long day, with guided palace access, free garden time, transport, and practical tips.

“Lawrence was AMAZING, so entertaining and clearly so passionate about Giverny. He even took us to see Monet’s grave since we got there early! It was unbelievably beautiful to see. Like heaven on earth! Our guide at Versailles, Lily, was also wonderful! I think sometimes her jokes went over peoples heads for sarcasm but it is exactly my type of humor and I loved it. I do agree with reviews that call for more time in Giverny and less time in Versailles. Especially after seeing Monet’s gardens it can be a lot to have 3 full hours in Versailles gardens (palace tour was great and the gardens are still breathtaking).…”

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2.Full-Day Loire Valley Chateaux Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 1,269 reviews · 12 hours - 750 minutes · from $127

Review of the Loire Valley castles day trip from Paris, with Chambord, Chenonceau, Cheverny, transport, timing, cost, and practical tips.

“I liked the excursion very much, the Loire valley castles are beautiful! The driver was super! The bus was clean and neat. The only thing that I didn’t like was that the guides didn’t explain much during the travel between the castles. I am sure there is a lot of history and legends that they can share and make the long hours in travelling more enjoyable and interesting.”

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3.Giverny Monet’s Home & Versailles Palace Day Trip from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 746 reviews · 11 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $167

Review of the Giverny and Versailles day trip from Paris, with practical advice on timing, guides, transport, gardens, value, and who should book.

“A long day but worth it for the experience. The gardens at Monet’s house and at the palace were well worth it”

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4.Fontainebleau & Vaux-le-Vicomte Châteaux Day Tour from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 454 reviews · 9 hours · from $123

Compare two French châteaux in one day from Paris, with comfortable transport, audio tours, grand gardens, and practical tips on time and value.

“Unlike Versailles, Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Comte (the latter in particular) are not very easy and quick to visit on your own by train. And unless you have your own car, there's also no easy way to visit both chateaux in one day. That's why I booked this tour - it provided transportation to both places, along with entry tickets for each chateau. As other reviews have mentioned, there is no guide at all on this day trip. The bus driver just drops you off at each chateau and that's it. I knew this going into the tour, so I wasn't disappointed. One thing that could be improved, though, is communication -…”

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5.Full Day Tour & Shuttle from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 356 reviews · 7 hours (approx.) · from $107

Review of the Versailles full-day tour from Paris, with coach transport, timed palace entry, audio guide, gardens, value, and practical tips.

“Absolute shambles!! All was well before pick up. Got the tickets from the rep and then the bus came. Single seats available only so we sat split up. On the bus, a carryon of sorting tickets for those who had not got them. Off the bus we were instructed to get in a line, ‘a straight line!!’, which disintegrated as we went through bag check. When the line was reforming, other people joined it and they were told to move by the guides. Understandably these people were not going to move to let others in and basically stand behind a bus load of people. Some of us had 11.30 and…”

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6.Fontainebleau and Vaux le Vicomte Chateaux Day Trip from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 339 reviews · 9 hours (approx.) · from $138

Compare two remarkable French châteaux on a self-guided day trip from Paris, with coach transport, audio tours, gardens, and practical tips.

“The actual Chateu's,. The vehicle had no signage and driver only spoke French. Very confusing on where to get on the buss. Buss was late leaving pickup and late arriving at each destination.”

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7.Versailles Full-Day Electric Bike Tour : Market, Picnic & Palace

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 239 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $204Top rated

Cycle from Paris to Versailles by electric bike, shop a French market, picnic by the Grand Canal, and tour the royal palace.

“What an amazing experience. The E-bikes were newer and very easy to ride. Our guide (Reno) was absolutely amazing. So much fun and knowledgeable. Please know this is a very long day! It is every bit 8 hours or more by the time we got to the main palace of Versailles we didn’t want to spend much time there. However we spent just enough time and the headed out and back to Paris. I highly recommend this tour if you are active.”

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8.Excursion from Paris to Versailles Palace by Tootbus

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 91 reviews · 6 hours · from $69Best value

Review of Tootbus’ Paris to Versailles trip, with palace, gardens, Trianon access, coach transfers, timing, value, and practical tips.

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9.Versailles Palace and Gardens Guided Day Trip

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 57 reviews · from $124

Review of the Versailles guided day trip from Paris, with train transport, skip-the-line entry, small groups, gardens, and a private-apartments upgrade.

“Oliver was an amazing guide and was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He had real passion for the history and we really enjoyed his narrative. Areas of improvement: start the tour earlier to give more time. This tour was extremely rushed. I would suggest doing the palace portion of the tour first, then go into the gardens where you can do your normal garden tour but then that would give us time to explore further on our own since this tour skips half of the gardens, which is the best part. Make sure to give all tour guests their train pass back so we can go back when we want. Another…”

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10.Mont Saint-Michel & Chateaux Country 3-Day Tour from Paris

★★★★★★★★★★4.2 · 31 reviews · 60 hours - 3 days · from $849

Review of the 3-day Mont Saint-Michel and Loire châteaux tour from Paris, with itinerary details, costs, hotels, guide quality, and practical tips.

“The trip was really interesting and we reached objectives that could not be done otherways. Our grup guide (Leyla) was very knowledgeable, pacient and empathetic. I appreciated her a lot and I would like to thank her. The bus driver Jamel was also very helpful. The hotels for the two nights were good and the dinner provided was also nice. The program includes many stairs and stepa, those with mobility impairments should be aware. But the tempo was correct and it allowed us to see all these beautiful objectives. Mont St Michel is excepțional. Omaha Beach very impressive, St Malo also interesting and picturesque. A good program, a little expensive…”

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11.Private Day Tour to Fontainebleau Palace

★★★★★★★★★★4.1 · 4 reviews · 5 hours · from $312

Review this private Paris to Fontainebleau tour, with Vaux-le-Vicomte, palace visits, forest time, costs, limits, and practical booking advice.

“We paid for a "tour with a local", for Fontenbleu, $528 for 4 of us, but only had a ride. No tickets, no audio, no guide. This was a misrepresentation. We paid about 5 times more than a taxi ride, which is essentially what we got. CHEATED is how we felt, and we will use a different company next time.”

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